Kara recuperated in a rejuvenating orange bubble, at Level Three of the Miracles Division, in the Healing-Xpress. When she was herself again, the Archangel Raphael sent her to Operations on Level Two to debrief.
Kara ran out of patience with the elevator’s operator: a huge gorilla, who tried to steal some of the dried flesh from her scalp. When the gorilla had turned around, she grabbed a handful of fur from his butt.
“Take that, King Kong!” said Kara as she flicked the black fur from her fingers and watched it fall on the ground. After that, King Kong did his best to ignore her and kept to himself, rubbing the bald spot on his bottom.
She jumped off the elevator and headed towards the white tent. The air was thick with salt. Kara quickened her pace. She could see David at the head table, speaking to another angel. She felt a stinging in her chest. She was a bit mad that she had awoken at Miracles Division without a David to accompany her. But why would he be there, anyway? He had labeled her a traitor. Maybe he’d hoped she wouldn’t make it back? She watched Gabriel converse with another Archangel whom she had never seen before. He was even larger than Gabriel. His golden brown skin shone brightly in the sunlight and contrasted with his silver and golden robes. Silky, dark brown hair brushed his muscular shoulders, and his face was the fairest Kara had ever seen…a male model fresh out of a fashion magazine.
Kara walked up to the table. Her eyes turned to David immediately. He turned towards her.
“Hey…how you feeling?” He lifted his hand, but as he was about to place it on her shoulder he withdrew it, as though her body was contagious, still hot with the Mark. He let his hand drop at his side. His face was screwed up, as if he had bitten into something sour.
Kara looked away, hiding the pain in her eyes. “I’m okay, I guess.”
She turned her head around and looked for the members of the other two groups. Images of Brooke haunted her. Maybe she could have done more to try and save Brooke. She searched the tent. There were angels in combat practice, but no recognizable faces from the life-quest mission.
“Where is everyone?” Her eyes locked with David’s. “Am I the first one back?”
David threw a quick glance over to the Archangels, before turning back to Kara. He dropped his shoulders.
“They didn’t make it.” He spoke in a whisper.
The floor started to spin. Kara blinked several times, trying to compose herself. “What do you mean…they didn’t make it? What are you saying?”
Although she had no lungs, at that moment she felt as though she was suffocating.
“They were all killed.” The husky voice came from the handsome Archangel, as he broke away from Gabriel and took a step towards Kara.
“You’re the only survivor, Kara.”
He wiped a long fringe of hair away from his face as his piercing green eyes studied her closely, as if she were an abstract painting.
“I’m the only survivor?” Kara croaked, “No…that can’t be … I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true,” said David.
Kara shook her head stubbornly. “No! The elemental child was at the safe house where Brooke and I went, not the others. They’re probably late…yeah, maybe they’re on their way back now.”
“They didn’t make it, Kara. They’re all gone,” said David.
“What…?” Her mind wandered to Benson, and she felt a sting in her chest. She didn’t really like him, but he didn’t deserve to die.
Kara cleared her throat. “I…I don’t understand.” Brooke’s death flashed before her. A chill rippled through her being.
“I’m just a rookie . . . I’m the one who should be dead…not them.” She felt numb all over.
“The Archangel Raphael informed us about what had happened to your partner, Brooke Miller, when you arrived at the Miracles Division,” said Gabriel. His black eyes glowered beneath his scowling brow. “Raphael told us what you told her, before you entered the Healing-Xpress shop. We knew then that you were the sole survivor.”
As the words reached her ears, Kara flinched. How was this possible? She shook her head, frowning, and looked at David. His face was twisted in sadness as he met her eyes. But when Kara turned and looked at the Archangels, they weren’t looking at her with sadness as David did; their eyes were filled with bewilderment…and was there also fear? She forced herself to look away.
“Kara Nightingale,” declared the larger archangel. “I am the Archangel Michael, the Legion’s commander.”
He bent his head, looking down on the rookie, like a redwood tree towering over a misty shrub below. “I would like you to tell us what happened. And don’t leave anything out.”
Kara watched Michael’s full lips compress, his eyes locked onto hers. She couldn’t look away. She recalled the events of the assignment, starting with the killing of her friend, Brooke, to the caged elemental child, and finally to her escape from the higher demons into Beaver Lake. When she had finished, the Archangels were silent. They looked at each other with disbelief.
“We will send the Scouts out again,” Gabriel broke the silence. “She came very close…there is still a chance. We should meet with the others.”
Kara thought about the life-quest. “So . . . I can still get my life back, right?”
A bit of hope came flooding back into her.
“So…when do we get more chosen GAs to pair into groups?” She wondered who she’d be paired with this time.
She looked at the Archangels’ puzzled faces and cocked an eyebrow. “Why are you staring at me like that? What is it?”
It was Michael’s turn to speak. “There won’t be any other groups.”
Kara shook her head. “I don’t understand? What do you mean by there won’t be any other groups?” She looked to David, who avoided her gaze and stared at his boots.
“What are you talking about? Are you saying we’re not going to be paired up again?”
Archangel Michael’s green eyes fixed on Kara. “There are no other guardian angels on this mission. You are the only one, Kara.”
The words hit like a ton of bricks. Her jaw dropped. “What!” She stared at him in disbelief.
“You are the only one left who can save the elemental child. No one else,” said Michael.
“But…but can’t you choose more angels? Aren’t there like…thousands to choose from?”
Kara felt a wave of panic coming on. Soon she would be drowned in it.
Michael clasped his hands in front of him and closed his eyes for a moment, as if he was listening to another voice from inside his head.
When he opened his eyes he spoke to Kara. “Six were chosen from the entire Legion. Only those special six were destined to save the child…no others. That order comes from The Chief himself.”
Kara shook her head. She exchanged a nervous look with David. “But, that doesn’t make sense…I can’t do this alone. That’s crazy!”
“She’s right,” shot David, “you can’t ask her to do this!” Kara was relieved David agreed with her.
David let out a soft yell of frustration as he paced the ground, his hands on his head. “She’s just a rookie…it’s not right!”
“She was chosen, David…this is out of our hands,” answered Michael.
“I’m not going to let you send her off like that…I won’t!” spat David.
Kara was surprised to see how flustered David was; it almost felt as if he cared, like before.
Gabriel stepped up to David. “It’s not up to you. You can’t stop this, David.”
“There has to be another way!” David shouted. “It was a miracle she came back at all! Now you want to send her back? She…she needs more time to train!”
“You know how important this is, David. You know what’ll happen if the demons use the child.” Michael’s green eyes flashed dangerously. “You know…this is the only way.”
David opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He kicked the ground.
Michael ste
pped over to Kara and placed his large hand gently on her shoulder. She felt lost in his brilliant green eyes, as though she would do anything he asked her.
She shook off the feeling and looked away. “I’m not going to let you hypnotize me with your good looks.”
“Kara,” said Michael, his expression softened by a degree. “You are part of this Legion, chosen by The Chief to be a soldier. He has chosen you to do this task—you alone—because no one else can do it.”
“The demon leader, Asmodeus, is waiting for the elemental child’s power to grow to its full potential, which could be anytime now, and he will use it to destroy us. Elementals are creatures of great power—of wild, uncontrollable power—and if Asmodeus uses it, he will become more powerful than any of us. We will not be able to fight him. If you don’t succeed in your mission, Asmodeus will overthrow the Legion and destroy the world of the living. He will bring havoc to the Earth. Horizon’s fate rests with you.”
Kara’s mind was working overtime. “But…you’re stronger than me,” she looked at Gabriel and then back to Michael, “why can’t you look for the elemental? I’m sure you’ll have a much easier time than me.”
She stared down at her puny body, wishing it were strong and skilled like Brooke’s—maybe then she’d have a chance. She wished she could throw up.
“Because only the chosen can do this task,” said Gabriel, his dark eyes piercing through her.
Michael squeezed her shoulder lightly. “That is why, you, Kara Nightingale, are the Legion’s only hope.”
Chapter 16
Asmodeus